Smell-o-Vision was a Real Thing, long predating Odorama. It was a system for releasing scents into the theater, used only once for the 1960 film Scent of Mystery
Odorama was over twenty years later – the scratch and sniff cards used for John Waters’ Polyester
There’s actually a long history of people trying to link scents with movies, both before 1960 and after 1981. When I visited the Journey into Imagination attraction at Disney World, they had the purple dragon Figment visit each sense in turn, including “Smell”
For low advertising, it’s hard to beat Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. A commercial for tongue scrapers was so disgusting that it prompted viewers to turn off their televisions, but also so compelling that people bought tongue scrapers in droves. That led to more companies making tongue scrapers, and ever more disgusting commercials, and destroyed television as we know it.
Saw an ad on the evening news last night for an electric razor to shave one’s crotch (or one’s “boys”, as the ad put it). Good grief. Can’t imagine having to explain that one to one’s young children.
I couldn’t hear it because there seems to be something wrong with my speakers. I watched the video of that commercial and I laughed. I thought, visually anyway, it was hilarious. I know I shouldn’t but I did.